This was a very disappointing result and Huddersfield looked more like the side on the fringe of the promotion race than we did.
Before
The mood of most of our fans has improved after the last three results and we have every chance of getting another point or three this evening. Huddersfield are just one spot above the relegation zone but they've beaten us once this season and can't be considered a pushover. I haven't heard of any injuries after the Plymouth match so we should have the same squad of players to choose from. With the games coming thick and fast there could well be some rotation going on today. I was very pleased to hear that Corry Evans is not too far from a comeback as he'd be a great asset for our promotion run-in. It seems like an eternity since he last played for us but he added a lot of strength to the midfield and we’ve lacked that this season. After last night’s games we've gone down a bit but a win or even a draw could put us back in the play-off spots depending on how things go in the Plymouth v Coventry match. I'll be watching our match in the company of a number of the London Branch and it should be a hoot and a holler. Match Prediction: 3-1 to us.
I got to the meeting place at 7.30 and several of the faithful were already there. I got a pint and checked the team-news. The only change was that Jobe was starting in place of Roberts, who was on the bench. We were in our pink away kit.
The Game
In the opening few minutes most of the pressure came from Huddersfield but our defence coped with it all comfortably enough. We were denied a free-kick in the ninth minute when a good ball from Ekwah found Clarke racing down the left only for him to hit the deck. Huddersfield soon won the first corner and it went for a throw to us which was a relief as they had plenty of big players up. A move down the right produced our first corner and unusually it was taken by Ekwah but it came to nothing.
It was a pretty scrappy game though Clarke had a goal attempt in the twenty-first but it was blocked. Thomas was looking a real threat down their left and in the twenty-fifth he set up Kasumu in a good spot but his shot went wide.
It remained goal-less as we passed the half-hour mark and our attacking had lacked zip so far. Next thing Ekwah had a low shot from just outside the centre of their box and it wasn’t too far wide. O’Nien was yellow-carded for a foul just outside the right angle of our box. Patterson couldn’t get a grip on a shot from the resultant free-kick and Pearson knocked the rebound in from close range. On the balance of play Huddersfield deserved it as we’d barely threatened. In the fortieth a Rusyn header was at least goalbound but it never troubled Nicholls in goal. We won another corner in added-time and it produced a great long-distance shot from Neil that Nicholls fumbled out for another corner. That came to nothing again and so it remained 1-0 as the half-time whistle went. I don’t know what exactly Beale said to our players at the break on Saturday but we needed a repeat if we were going to get anything out of the game.
During the break we chatted together and the general feeling was that we should bring on Roberts for Ba before too long. Coventry were drawing 0-0 at Plymouth.
We started off again at a higher pace, thankfully, but the Hudds fans were soon shouting for a penalty in the forty-ninth when Matos went down. Referee Gavin Ward wasn’t having any; quite rightly too. Just afterwards a Koroma free-kick hit our left post and then a low Jobe shot went straight to Nicholls so things were warming up. Hume was forced to concede a corner in the fifty-sixth and we managed to break quickly from it without getting anywhere. Replays showed that there may have been a handball from Jobe as the free-kick came in but we’d got away with it anyway. Next thing we were awarded a free-kick just outside their box and before it was taken Roberts and Pembele replaced Ba and Hjelde.
In the sixty-eighth Matos was booked for a blatant foul as Neil burst through. With twenty minutes to go we still had time to get something from the game but I couldn’t see us getting more than one goal. Rusyn was subbed by Mundle with eighteen minutes on the clock so maybe he could produce a spark or two. One of the lads said, “Maybe Mundle will bundle the ball into the net.” A bundle would do me. The Terriers were looking the likelier side to score actually as they won two corners in a row and a second goal would definitely settle it. In the eightieth we made another change with Burstow coming on for Neil and I have to say that didn’t fill my heart with joy. Anyway, we soon won another corner though, as usual, we made nothing of it. The clock was ticking away all too quickly as it often does when we’re getting beat. With four minutes to go Mundle got a yellow and really it might have been a red. To make things worse, whilst winning the corner Roberts looked like he picked up another injury after sitting on the deck for a period of time before heading straight down the tunnel, leaving us with ten men for the final ten minutes or so as Beale used his three stoppages for subs. In the bar we were trying to pull the toilet magic trick whereby Sunderland score if you go to the bog but not even that would work. In the last minute we won two corners on the trot but…. Six minutes of added-time were announced and hope raised its ugly head once again. Patto was forced into a diving save three minutes into added-time and despite a Huddersfield player almost putting it into his own net, it ended 0-1.
